Illinois’s $126.7M Per-Wager Tax Accounts for 72% of Betting Tax Gain

Figures published by the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) show sports wagering payments reaching $619.8 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026. The previous year’s total was $443.3 million, putting the increase at $176.5 million, or about 40%.

FY2026 Payments Split Into Four Categories

Sportsbook AGR rose from $1.321 billion to $1.479 billion over the same period. The Illinois Gaming Board’s monthly reports provide the underlying wagering data for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026.

The FY2026 payment total breaks down into four categories:

• Statewide sports wagering tax – $476.4 million;
• Cook County tax – $15.4 million;
• Per-wager tax – $126.7 million;
• Expired-ticket receipts – $1.3 million.

The corresponding FY2025 total did not include a per-wager tax. Its statewide tax component was $428.5 million.

One Levy Explains Most of the Increase

Illinois introduced the additional charge on July 1, 2025. Under state law, an operator owes $0.25 on each of its first 20 million online wagers in a fiscal year. Each online wager beyond that threshold is taxed at $0.50. The charge sits on top of taxes calculated from sportsbook revenue.

Based on CGFA’s rounded figures, the new tax supplied $126.7 million of the $176.5 million annual increase. That is 71.8%, according to 15M’s calculation. The other payment categories together added $49.8 million.

Illinois had already introduced a graduated AGR tax in July 2024. That system applied throughout FY2025, while the per-bet charge was an additional element in FY2026.

Fewer Wagers, Higher Receipts

Illinois recorded 319.2 million sports wagers in FY2026, down from 389.1 million a year earlier. That represents an 18% decline in the number of bets, despite the higher revenue and tax totals.

The amount staked moved in the opposite direction. Handle increased from $15.058 billion to $15.487 billion, a rise of roughly 2.8%. AGR grew faster than handle, reaching $1.479 billion.

The market therefore recorded fewer individual bets but a higher total betting volume. The figures do not establish whether the new tax contributed to the decline in wager count.

Payments Reach 41.9% of AGR

Dividing total payments by AGR gives 41.9% for FY2026, up from 33.6% in FY2025. That is an increase of about 8.3 percentage points using CGFA’s rounded annual totals.

The calculation is not an operator tax rate. The numerator includes the Cook County levy, per-wager payments and expired tickets, while the denominator is statewide AGR.

Excluding the $126.7 million per-wager component leaves $493.1 million in FY2026 payments. That equals approximately 33.3% of AGR, close to the previous year’s 33.6%.